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Friday, August 18th, 2017

Chamber of Industries and Mines Starts Functioning

August 09, 2017

KABUL - The newly-created Afghanistan Chamber of Industries and Mines (ACIM) on Monday started functioning, vowing to develop industries, prevent illegal mineral extraction and attract investment in the mining sector.
President Ashraf Ghani ordered separation of the industry section from the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and creation of a special chamber for industries and mines on May 2. The president inaugurated the ACIM four days ago.
Rahimullah Samandar, chief operating officer at ACIM, during the launch of the chamber’s work, said creation of the body was needed to support industrialists. He said the ACCI was now more focused on traders.
In the absence of attention from the government and ACCI to industries and lack of facilities such as land, electricity and others for industrialists caused the country’s industry to less develop, he said.
He said the president during the inauguration of the chamber had promised to provide land and electricity, create infrastructures in industrial parks, reduce taxes and support domestic products.
Shirbaz Kaminzadah, ACIM administrative board head, said the entire focus of the ACCI had been on traders over the past one and half a decade while less attention was paid to the industries.
“The ACCI has taken an irresponsible stance regarding industries, it shows the chamber’s incompetence and lack of cooperation with the industry sector that faced many factories with stagnation,” he said.
Kaminzadah said from $110 billion aid to Afghanistan over the past 16 years, only $20 million had been allocated to the industry sector that too misused.
“The ACIM was created in order to support investors and attract more investments, we do not allow anyone to speak on behalf of industries anymore,” he said.
In response to a question regarding poor quality of domestic products, he said, “Unfortunately the poor quality products are imported from abroad under domestic trademarks, investors never produce poor quality things because it damages their company’s reputation.”
He added illegal mineral extraction was one of the major challenges in the country but industrialists were ready to invest in the area.
The ACIM would also share its plans with the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum for attracting investments and prevention of illegal extraction of mines, he said.
ACIM officials said branches of the chamber would be opened in Nangarhar, Herat, Kandahar and Balkh provinces in the near future. (Pajhwok)